1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a key input unit, a digital processor having the key input unit, and a key input method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A mobile communication terminal as an example of a digital processor includes a key input device including plural functional keys or keys such as keys for inputting characters and numerals, functional keys for starting and ending a call, and keys for selecting a menu item.
The keys serve to perform functions essential to input a user's command and are inevitable for a mobile communication terminal.
However, the keys serve as a limit factor in the tendency to decrease the size of the digital processor such as a mobile communication terminal. That is, the decrease in size of an input device such as a keyboard and a key pad used in a digital processor (such as a PC (Personal Computer, a notebook computer, a mobile communication terminal, and a PDA (Personal Data Assistant)) is limited, thereby making it difficult to reduce the size of the digital processor.
A touch screen used in a mobile communication terminal or a PDA can accomplish a decrease in size, but has a problem in that its input speed is low and erroneous inputs are often caused.